News

​Spring rains have brought the spring flowers and the flow is on. Summer is fast approaching, and the Tallow flow is next in line. Swarms have been hived. Colonies have been split. Queens have been raised and introduced to their new families. Honey supers are on and some harvesting has begun. There was a good privet and clover bloom but cool nights hurt the daytime nectar flows. The rains have slowed down, temperatures are rising and the work in the apiary goes on. Here’s to a safe and plentiful harvest for all. And if it does not happen, well there is always next year.

​The LBA conducted their first spring field day at the Cades Farm just south of Lafayette and was a huge success. Thanks to all those that helped and to ULL for allowing the use of their facility. Thank you, Mark, for your help and support in making it possible. The day was a little stormy, but we continued on as scheduled. We even put on a make-up field day a couple weeks later for those that did not make the first one. Thanks to Jennifer Brown for spearheading this and seeing that everything went as planned. The doughnuts were a hit as well.

The Bee Lab Field Day committee has met and started planning this year’s fall meet. Tentative date is October 27. We are looking for suggestions on topics of interest to our members and ask that you send them to myself or Jennifer Brown. You can email them to me at randy@beebumbler.com or coloran1@yahoo.com, or Jennifer Brown at ashland6400@me.com. We look forward to the suggestions as this day is for you to learn more about bees and beekeeping.

The annual LBA convention committee is also hard at work putting together this year’s convention to be held in December. Look for future updates on this and other activities on your web site and Facebook page. Nola Ducote is doing a great job keeping us informed about the latest bee news on our Facebook page. Check us out.

The LBA, in conjunction with the American Honey Producers, state bee keeping organizations, government offices are working on the “Flea Beetle” issue. For those that are not familiar with this insect, it will be imported from China, turned loose in Louisiana, in an effort to stop the spread of the Chinese Tallow Tree. As you all do know, the tallow tree is one of the major honey producers in the south and the removal will affect not only commercial beekeeping operations but small-scale producers as well. We will keep you informed as more news is available. In the meantime, it would not hurt if you let your local, state and federal representatives know how you feel about this issue.

On a final note, remember to register your colonies according to state regulations. Also inform your mosquito control officer about those locations. We need to do everything we can to keep our bees in good health. Chemical spraying too close to your hives can be, will be, devastating. In closing, may your supers be heavy, honey prices rising and your bee’s health. Watch out for the hot summer time, drink plenty of fluids and take breaks when needed. Have a safe summer.